11-year-old boy travels 1,000km from Ukraine to Slovakia on his own to find family.

An 11-year-old Ukrainian refugee travelled 1000 km on his own from the city of Zaporizhzhia in southeast Ukraine to Slovakia to get to safety as Russian forces continue to invade the country.

Zaporizhzhia is site of the nuclear power plant which was captured by Russian forces last week.

According to the Independent, the boy’s mother sent him on the journey by train to find relatives and stayed behind to care for her mother who is too sick to move.

The boy arrived in Slovakia alone with a plastic bag, passport and a telephone number written on his hand. Volunteers took care of him, took him to a warm shelter and gave him food and drinks. They later reunited him with family in Bratislava, according to the Slovak Ministry of Interior.

“He won over everyone with his smile, fearlessness and determination worthy of a real hero,” the interior department said in a statement.

The boy’s mother Yulia Volodymyrivna Pisecka was seen on video thanking the Slovak government and police for taking care of her son.

“People with big hearts live in your small country. Please, save our Ukrainian children,” she said.

According to the UN as of March 3, more than 1.2 million refugees have left Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin unprovoked invasion of the country.